142. Kabul

Street scene in Kabul, Afghanistan in November, 1961. (AP Photo: Henry Burroughs)

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Kabul, una ciudad de 3 millones 300 mil habitantes (2012), es la capital de Afgasnistán, república islámica (د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت) en el Asia central con 31 millones de habitantes.

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Men stroll past roadside vendors as a painted truck makes its way through the busy street in Kabul, Afghanistan, November, 1961. (AP Photo: Henry S. Bradsher)

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Fractured by internal conflict and foreign intervention for centuries, Afghanistan made several tentative steps toward modernization in the mid-20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, some of the biggest strides were made toward a more liberal and westernized lifestyle, while trying to maintain a respect for more conservative factions. Though officially a neutral nation, Afghanistan was courted and influenced by the U.S. and Soviet Union during the Cold War, accepting Soviet machinery and weapons, and U.S. financial aid. This time was a brief, relatively peaceful era, when modern buildings were constructed in Kabul alongside older traditional mud structures, when burqas became optional for a time, and the country appeared to be on a path toward a more open, prosperous society.
Keep in mind, when looking at these images, that the average life expectancy for Afghans born in 1960 was 31, so the vast majority of those pictured have likely passed on since.

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Vendors sell various fuits and nuts at an outdoor market in Kabul, in November of 1961. (AP Photo: Henry S. Bradsher)